A two-tier social system
In Sicily, a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, and the gap is wide (even dizzying) between the North and the South, but also within the population itself, between the centre of the land and the more industrialised and touristy coasts, or between the people of the "family" and those who do not belong to it. There are strong class oppositions and a real difficulty of dialogue. Unemployment is high (20%), salaries are half of what they are in the rest of Italy, and job insecurity affects young people and women in particular. Many Sicilians feel excluded and abandoned by the ruling classes. But poverty is not as visible in Sicily as it might be elsewhere: for example, one almost never sees homeless people in the streets. Those who have some financial difficulties are almost always taken in by their families and effectively work under the table. The strong ties that always bind its members together are not a legend, and this solidarity or "permanent social fabric" - the only alternative to the vacuum left by the authorities - protects the most deprived from the risks of desocialization and anomie.
Education, a divisive social factor
School is of course compulsory, and the school system is the same throughout Italy. It is divided into four periods of study: scuola materna (from 3 to 5 years old), scuola elementare (from 6 to 10 years old), scuola media (until 13 years old), then 5 years of scuola secondaria before eventually university, with compulsory studies ending at 16 years old. But in Sicily you will certainly see many young teenagers or even children working as traders or in agriculture and fishing. Coming from the simplest social classes, they naturally participate and collaborate in the family business and perpetuate the tradition, with great passion and pride. There is a great problem of illiteracy in these areas (unlike in the North), which is of course more prevalent among the elderly. For the youngest, knowing how to read and write is an essential means of integrating into the rest of society, when the family can no longer be the solution for the future. Finally, religion (and in particular the unavoidable figure of the priest) is still very present in the education of Sicilians. For many families, the catechism remains an obligatory passage, and the parish priest remains a privileged and respected interlocutor of the young, a guarantor of an education worthy of the name.
The university system is divided into two cycles, of 5 years in total. After the first three years, a laurea breve (which corresponds to a French licence) is awarded, then it is necessary to do another two years to obtain a laurea specialistica (a master). Access to higher education is obviously the only way for some disadvantaged groups to find security for their children, while their traditional work (craftsmen, fishermen, farmers, etc.) is increasingly crushed by globalisation.
Endemic unemployment
In Sicily, as in the rest of the country, the dominant economic sectors remain trade, agriculture, services and tourism. Youth employment is a major concern. The island is heavily affected by unemployment, around 20% in 2022 (and even 40% among young people), and this before and after the Covid-19 crisis. Sicily is among the regions of Italy with the lowest employment rates ... The most calamitous figures concern the provinces of Agrigento, Palermo and Caltanissetta. A problem that pushes young people to leave their beloved island to find work in the big cities, mainly in the north of the country. The problem of pensions, a current issue in France, is also in Italy. Our neighbors will retire even later! If the lowering of the temporary legal retirement age decided by the populist M5S-Ligue government in 2018 had gone to 62 years (which cost 5 billion euros), a year later, the Fornero reform in 2019 raised it to 67 years! A yo-yo that expresses the national political dissension on this issue.
A disparate health care system
There are similarities between the French and Italian systems. For example, like the French, all Italians are covered by government health insurance. The Italian health system is not without its shortcomings, although it represents a significant share of GDP: about 7%. Born in 1978 from the consolidation of scattered units, the public health service is not doing very well. Hospital emergency services are not very efficient. For specialized visits, one has to wait 2 to 3 months. This crisis, which is common to many countries (France is no exception either), has deep-rooted causes, in particular the ageing of the population and the change in behaviour towards illness. But, joining the useful to the pleasant, Sicilians practice sports at the gym, that is to say nella palestra, because if health is one thing, the quest for a perfect body is another. The gyms are full at all hours, even late at night. Mens sana in corpore sano.
The preponderant family in Sicily
The family is sacred in Sicily, as in the rest of the country. The influence of the Roman Catholic Church is still noticeable on the family structure. In general, family ties are stronger, especially in the South, than in any other Western European country. The family predominates over everything else, work, country... "It is the only homeland," writes Leonardo Sciascia. It is the ultimate refuge and the ultimate help. You can always count on the family!
Obviously the figure of the mamma remains, like that of the Madonna, the untouchable secret heart. For an Italian, the mamma is tutto, "everything", his life, his past, his present and his future. The term "mammism" is used in Italy to describe the closeness of the Italian mamma, the mother of the family, to her children. The Italians are unable to cut the cord. The offspring remain under the family roof until an advanced age, easily up to 30 years or more. The later the children leave the parental home, the happier the parents are. The children's point of view, even today, is not very clear, because the luxury of doing nothing is not to be neglected! In the countryside, three generations frequently live together. Unemployment ratifies a situation that the modern world had tended to upset. And the honour of the family is the most precious asset. The man is the central figure and the head of the family who decides on the moral conduct of all, and in particular of the women. The boys have a privileged status as chiefs, but they are mainly there to watch over the women against possible courtiers. Nevertheless, things are changing and girls are becoming emancipated, the father's authority is cracking and relations between parents and children, between girls and boys, are tending to soften. The family is currently losing its influence, particularly because of divorce.
Make way for the donna!
Women and Italians are not a legend! Petrarch sang Laura, Dante praised Beatrice... and Fellini and Antonioni their respective muses. Sicilians are no exception to the rule. Virgin, mamma
, ideal of beauty and purity, women are venerated and almost feared. But while Sicilians are not short of superlatives on their favourite subject (along with football), feminists still have some work to do. As the saying goes: Bona donna, donna chi nun parla (A good woman is a woman who does not speak). Fortunately, the situation is changing, and women are now entering situations that were previously forbidden to them and are no longer confined to the traditional roles that were once theirs: the house, the kitchen and the children! Women are no longer confined to the reductive role of the mamma. Divorce has been allowed in Italy since 1970, the pill is commonly used and abortion has been decriminalized since 1978. Today, boys and girls receive the same education and have the same professional expectations. Women are finding new roles in society and the low birth rate proves it.Discretion is still the rule in conservative families and some "affairs" remain the men's business. Sicilian ragazzi are as demonstrative as any self-respecting Italian in front of the donna who passes in the street. Even if the seduction relationship and the gaze games are intense and very codified, the boys are, despite everything, respectful and a little embarrassed of certain principles. Still, 9 couples out of 10 marry in church. Common-law unions are not the rule!
